The expedition to find the Artifact had suffered devastating casualties, and word had spread throughout the city.
It seemed Madra had judged correctly. Most of his followers were turncoats, leaking information like a sieve.
Apart from Renato and Balin, who returned unscathed, only a handful of Duergar managed to escape alive. As soon as they entered the city, soldiers loyal to Deepforge swiftly took them into custody.
Madra publicly declared that the expedition had been ambushed by mind flayers, that The Unyielding had fallen in battle, and that everyone who had escaped was a "spy."
News of the mind flayers sparked panic in New Rolling Stone City. Newly arrived refugees gathered in the streets, whispering among themselves as unease spread through the crowd.
This was precisely the opportunity Madra had been waiting for. Standing on a makeshift stone platform before Deep Hammer Tower, clad in black-and-gold armor with a red feathered crest on his head, he addressed the square, his voice amplified by magic:
"Stone Sons! The tentacles of those loathsome aberrations are reaching for us once again."
"Not only did they destroy Rolling Stone City, they have no intention of sparing a single Duergar-because those Octopus Heads know that our ancestors smashed their nests with hammers and resisted their psychic whispers through sheer will!"
He raised the Family Emblem high, his voice ringing with fervor:
"The Deepforge Tribe began as warriors who followed Laduguer. Now, I will follow in our ancestors' footsteps once more and drive these aberrations from our lands for good!"
"But these mind flayers are no fools. They will do everything they can to obstruct us and divide us. In a crisis like this, anyone who still opposes us or questions us is undoubtedly a spy sent by the mind flayers to tear us apart! We